Revelation 9:13-21
[6/26/11]
Review:
Revelation 9:1-6) (GW) When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky. The star was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
2) (GW) It opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and smoke came out of the shaft like the smoke from a large furnace. The smoke darkened the sun and the air.
3) (GW) Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth, and they were given power like the power of earthly scorpions.
4) (GW) They were told not to harm any grass, green plant, or tree on the earth. They could harm only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
5) (GW) They were not allowed to kill them. They were only allowed to torture them for five months. Their torture was like the pain of a scorpion’s sting.
6) (GW) At that time people will look for death and never find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.
QUESTION: How did they hurt all those who were not sealed by God?
ANSWER: Their “sting” caused intense pain. Those affected were in such pain they longed to die. They will seek it, but not find it. DEATH TAKES A 5 MONTH HOLIDAY!
On To This Week’s Lesson:
Revelation 9:13-21) (GW) When the sixth angel blew his trumpet, I heard a voice from the four horns of the gold altar in front of God.
14) (GW) The voice said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are held at the great Euphrates River.”
NOTE: The sixth Trumpet Judgment is related to the Euphrates River.
15) (GW) The four angels who were ready for that hour, day, month, and year were released to kill one-third of humanity.
16) (GW) The soldiers on horses numbered 20,000 times 10,000. I heard how many there were.
“It is my belief that the 200 million referred to in Revelation 9: 16 are not from China, but, instead, are demonic horses and creatures. There are four angels who are bound in the great river Euphrates, according to Revelation 9: 14, who will be let loose. They are associated with the 200 million horses” [sequenceofprophesy.com].
“China’s standing armed force of some 2.8 million active soldiers in uniform is the largest military force in the world. Approximately 1 million reservists and some 15 million militia back them up. With a population of over 1.2 billion people, China also has a potential manpower base of another 200 million males fit for military service available at any time. In addition to this wealth of manpower, China is a nuclear power” [fas.org]. (Federation of American Scientists)
QUESTION: Who are these 200,000,000 horsemen?
ANSWER: Hal Lindsay in his book, “The Late Great Planet Earth,” postulated that China is the country that will produce this army.
NOTE: Arguments for this referring to China:
1) American scientists say that an army of 200,000,000 soldiers in China is possible.
2) It would be in line with the 2nd Horseman of Revelation 6:4.
3) The following passage suggests that this army has to travel west to get to Israel, meaning it’s from the east.
4) Note the similarity between the trumpet and bowl judgments.
Revelation 16:12-16) (GW) The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great Euphrates River. The water in the river dried up to make a road for the kings from the east.
13) (GW) Then I saw three evil spirits like frogs come out of the mouths of the serpent, the beast, and the false prophet.
14) (GW) They are spirits of demons that do miracles. These spirits go to the kings of the whole world and gather them for the war on the frightening day of God Almighty.
15) (GW) “See, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains alert and doesn’t lose his clothes. He will not have to go naked and let others see his shame.”
16) (GW) The spirits gathered the kings at the place which is called Armageddon in Hebrew.
7 Trumpet Judgments: 7 Vial/Bowl Judgments:
1) 1/3 vegetation destroyed 1) Painful sores
2) 1/3 of seas become blood 2) All seas become blood
3) 1/3 drinking water becomes blood 3) All drinking water becomes blood
4) 1/3 of day and night darkened 4) Agonizing heat causing severe sunburn
5) Torment, but no death 5) Total darkness
6) China revolts against Anti-Christ 6) River Euphrates dries up
7) Announcement of Armegeddon 7) Armegeddon
17) (GW) In the vision that I had, the horses and their riders looked like this: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, pale blue, and yellow. The horses had heads like lions. Fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths.
18) (GW) These three plagues-the fire, smoke, and sulfur which came out of their mouths-killed one-third of humanity.
19) (GW) The power of these horses is in their mouths and their tails. (Their tails have heads like snakes which they use to hurt people.)
QUESTION: Will these horses, and their riders, really look like the picture presented in this prophecy?
ANSWER: Of course not! God is showing a first century A.D. man, John, a modern day event. He showed John in pictures he could understand. He knew about horses, lions, and serpents. He didn’t know about Army Stykers with grenade launchers and 50 caliber machine guns; he didn’t know about traditional tanks; he didn’t know about the M67 flamethrower tank. These vehicles would certainly produce “fire, smoke, and brimstone.”
M67 Flamethrower Tank Traditional Tank
Army Stykers
Let’s Look At Verse 15 Again:
Revelation 9:15) (GW) The four angels who were ready for that hour, day, month, and year were released to kill one-third of humanity.
QUESTION: When will China revolt against the Anti-Christ?
ANSWER: They will revolt 13 months, 1 day, and 1 hour prior to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
QUESTION: Where will this revolt end?
ANSWER: It will end in Armegeddon.
Regarding Armegeddon,
“Megiddo was in the plain of Esdraelon, “which has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in Palestine from the days of Nabuchodonozor king of Assyria, unto the disastrous march of Napoleon Buonaparte from Egypt into Syria. Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christian crusaders, and anti Christian Frenchmen; Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors of every nation that is under heaven, have pitched their tents on the plain of Esdraelon, and have beheld the banners of their nation wet with the dews of Tabor and Hermon” (“Clarke’s Travels,” cit. by Lee). See Thomson’s “Land and Book” (Central Palestine and Phoenicia), p. 208 sqq.; and Stanley, “Sinai and Palestine,” ch. ix.” [Vincent].
20) (GW) The people who survived these plagues still did not turn to me and change the way they were thinking and acting. If they had, they would have stopped worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk.
21) (GW) They did not turn away from committing murder, practicing witchcraft, sinning sexually, or stealing.
QUESTION: What were the sins of the unredeemed that God said they would not repent of?
ANSWER: Idol worship, murder, witchcraft, sexual sins, and stealing.
QUESTION: Why wouldn’t all these plagues cause them to repent?
ANSWER: It didn’t cause repentance in Egypt either.
Hebrews 3:13) (GW) But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
(CEV) You must encourage one another each day. And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called “today.” If you don’t, then sin may fool some of you and make you stubborn.
(GNB) Instead, in order that none of you be deceived by sin and become stubborn, you must help one another every day, as long as the word “Today” in the scripture applies to us.
(MSG) For as long as it’s still God’s Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes.
QUESTION: Again, why wouldn’t all these plagues cause them to repent?
ANSWER: If any of us give in to sin long enough we will become stubborn in our thinking, and try to twist the Scriptures to excuse what we are doing. Or, we will simply quit caring what the Word has to say on the topic of the sin we are engaging in.